Doesn"t anyone make vw sized tires anymore?

Hi all-
I'm trying to buy some new tires for my wife's 79 Super Beetle, to go on the
new 5.5X15 stock wheels I've purchased as a Christmas gift. Several trips to

several different tire dealers has turned up absolutely NO choices
available. A quick call to JBugs where I bought the rims and I was informed
that what I needed was a 165SR15 tire. Seemed easy enough, but after several
more attempts, the tire guys in my area are still unable to determine the
correct size. Part of the problem is that the car is currently in dead
storage for the winter and I'm not able to physically measure the tires that
are on the car to provide any more information.
I really thought that this year I'd have the Christmas gift thing well in
hand, but it looks like it's not going to be as easy as I'd hoped.
Can anyone enlighten me as to what tires I can use on stock wheels for the
Super Beetle, short of going to the very expensive **classic** tires I've
seen on line? Is there some way to convert the 165SR15 into a **modern**
tire size? I've done a google search but it seems that most of the
previously asked tire questions related to putting larger tires on the
vehicle...where I'm just hoping to go stock.
Thanks-
GaryT

No I haven't tried Pep Boys...I don't think there's one locally. I have
tried a number of both large and small tire dealers, and specifically shops
that only deal in tires. I thought this would be a no brainer. I may take a
trip to Sears tomorrow to see if they have access to any specs that the
other guys don't seem to be able to find.
Thanks for the recommendation though-
GaryT

shops
a
I'd recommend Pep Boys, also. Just had "Herman" shod with new tires from
them for some ridiculously low price (like $160 installed?!) The tires are
generic, but they ride very well and have a 45k mile warranty.
Larry
'71 SB - "Herman"

the
to
informed
several
My understanding is that the modern equivalent of this size is 165/80-R15.
They should be able to find this. I went to tirerack.com and checked the
stock size for a 1977 beetle, since beetle was not listed as a model for
1979 in their database. Here is the result:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/SelectTireSize.jsp?autoMake=Volkswagen&autoMod
elพetle&autoYear77&autoModClar
They only have one at this size though: the Kumho Euro Metric for $27 per
tire. Shouldn't break the bank.
Go back to your tire dealer and tell 'em you need 165/80-R15. That'll give
you a final diameter of 25.4 inches if you want to measure your old tires
for comparison. (That figure was arrived at using the handy miata *gasp*
tire size calculator: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html )
Hope this helps.
E.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/SelectTireSize.jsp?autoMake=Volkswagen&autoMod
give
I appreciate it, and that appears to be the kind of information I need. At
least there's 3 sets of digits in the tire size you advise. That seems to
be the kind of language the tire guys understand. I'm surprised though that
the tire guys don't have some sort of reference that they could look up the
size for a particular year and model. And its not like there were only 5
vw's made...while I understand that the demand is not what it once was,
there are still a few of them left in the world.
GaryT

Stafford...............ok all of ya
I thought the first part of the number was the
treadwidth..............165mm
the second part was the percentage of the treadwidth, that is the
height of the sidewall............80 = 80 percent of the 165 or 132mm
and the third part is most definitely the opening size/rim size.
15 = 15 inch diameter rim.
one can figure the height of a tire or the circumference given the
tire size still though.
Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply MUADIBฎ
http://www.angelfire.com/retro/ssterile/MAIN%20PAGE.html
It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you
don't, it's its.
Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and
likewise yours
and theirs. -- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

Well there ain't nuthin more educational that fckuing(mangle) up in front
of the whole world! Yep, I messed up. See what happens when I try to do
numbers when I'm dead tired? I was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG again.
(Funny that I had it right when I was sizing tires for the kit-car, but
JEEZE to mess up in front of the Universe... like that...)
--
John Stupid

Gary...i would be kinda worried about *any* "tirestore" that does not know what
a "metric radial" is...really....there are still many vehicles that run the
"metric radial" and not exclusively vw...there isn't a tire store local to me
that i *can't* get a 165r15 tire for a beetle...sears, NTB(owned by sears), and
many others....tell them you need a 165sr15 *metric* radial...if they don't
understand i would be hard pressed to let them even install a tire on my car...
-------------------
Chris Perdue
*All opinions are those of the author of this post*
"Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug"
http://hometown.aol.com/bugninva/MAINPAGE.html
to reply take your PANTS off

don't
car...
I was concerned too, though these are NTB and other similar sized chain tire
stores. I think a big part of the problem is my total lack of knowledge in
this area combined with the 19 y.o. customer service kids that have even
less experience. And admittedly, I'm probably the only guy they've seen with
this request in a long time.
GaryT

Cooper tire makes a direct replacement for VW bugs. Matter of fact, they
provided their 165R15 tire to VW of Mexico for use on the "last edition"
beetle.
Check with a Cooper dealer, or you can order them from Real Source for
$199.99 (+shipping) for a set of 4. P/N 106-274 www.800luvbugg.com

Stock wheels for your car were 4.5 x 15 and the tires that went on
them were 165-15. The rims you got are wider than stock, so they could
use some wider tires.
I know that there are a few 165-15 still made, I bought some with the
LeMans brand just last summer.
What you probably need for your stock looking, but not really OE
wheels would be something like a 185/70-15.
-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

..........................You're exactly right Jim. All 60's & 70's era
bugs including 79 'verts came with 4 1/2" wide wheels.
Unfortunately, the 185/70-15 size has become very hard to find.
This < http://www.tiresunlimited.com/vred_sprint_classic.htm
is the only source that I know of and they're $79.59 each plus
shipping and then you still have to get them mounted & balanced.
A good compromise is the 185/65-15 size which is only slightly
smaller in diameter. I have that size on the front of my 77 bug
with the wider 5 1/2" width wheels and my speedometer only
reads about 2 mph too fast.

This is a fair weather car that my wife cruises only around town in.
Speedometer error wouldn't be a big deal.
185/65-15...that *sounds* like something that might be available!
Thanks. I've got my work cut out for me to get this done by Christmas.
GaryT

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